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Windows 7 End-of-Support

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Last Updated: Thursday, 26 August 2021 13:13

Published: Monday, 13 January 2020 08:49

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Reports of My Death are greatly Exaggerated

On January 15th 2020 Microsoft provided the final security updates for Windows 7 and discontinued further support.  What does this mean?

Most users will notice nothing, other than a notice from Microsoft that support has ended, that the sky is falling and they should immediately upgrade to Windows 10, or buy a new Microsoft Surface Book for $3000 odd. Otherwise it will continue to work the same as it always has and there is absolutely no need for panic. You also won't be alone in that about 25% of all computers running MS Windows are still on version 7. (Estimated at 300 million.)

In fact, Microsoft is still providing security updates to Windows 7, but only by subscription for corporate clients, and then only to the professional and enterprise versions.  Users of the Home version are not supported. Various sources have put the cost of the subscription as starting from as low as $25 per machine per year, with this doubling each further year for the next three years. We doubt anyone will get this rate and expect it to be more like $100 P.A and for small businesses its unlikely you can subscribe at all.

What are the risks of not upgrading?

The good new is for those using Microsoft Security Essentials, the anti virus scanner for Windows 7.  It has been confirmed, from several sources, that signature support this version of malware protection will will continue, but that the AV software itself won't be updated unless one is enrolled for the support subscription as above.

However, to gauge the importance of this one must ask just how often has your antivirus actually quarantined or removed any malware from your computer. Personally I can't recall it ever doing anything other than it correctly identifying test signatures as one would expect. One can check its scanned findings by opening its settings where it will show a list of events and when they occurred. As at March 2021 the virus definitions are still being regularly updated.

Considering that Windows 7 has received regular updates for over 10 years, one would expect that most issues would have been found and fixed by now, and therefore its pretty safe and secure going forward. There are also third-party organisations, such as 0patch.com, are offering micro patches for issues that arise. These are based on Microsoft's security fixes to Windows 10, (much code is still common to both) and those provided to users who have subscribed to Windows 7 updates. They expect to continue these for up to another 3 years.  

What is likely to happen will be similar to that when Windows XP reached its end-of-support. Over time, compatibility with future versions of programs/applications, such as web browsers & third-party AV scanners, ceased when these were updated to use new methods and features only provided by Vista and Windows 7.  As M.S is offering update subscriptions for about 3 years this may not become an issue until then and it will be a gradual process. Google have confirmed that their Chrome Browser will be maintained for a further 18 months and we expect most third party vendors to match this. As far as KeyPay is concerned, our new Version 6 still runs fine on Windows XP, as does Version 5.

Its also possible that if a major security issue does occur, as happened with XP and wannacry, Microsoft may have no choice but to provide a patch to everyone. 

Upgrading to Windows 10

During the current time of Coronavirus just don't do it. If there are issues your chances of help will likely be very limited. 

When Microsoft ceased offering forcing users to update to 10 for free, they haven't prevent users of Windows 7 or 8 from downloading and installing it for free since, even to this day. (Search Google for how to do this.) However, there maybe issues with some drivers as Windows 10 requires these to be signed by Microsoft and these maybe unavailable for older hardware. Microsoft do provide free utilities to run on Windows 7 to determine if its capable of upgrading to 10 and possible driver issues.

What we do know is that after applying the upgrade, if it works, it attempts to retain compatibility with existing settings used by Windows 7 and KeyPay V5 will continue to work without any changes.

A full clean install will require additional effort in that your existing programs will need to be re-installed. For KeyPay, most users will just need to restore a copy of the C:\KeyPay folder with its contents and ensure that any external export and temporary folders exist. e.g for IRD and Banking files.

The above also applies with a purchase of a new PC with Windows 10 already installed. If this is your intention, instructions likely needed to get KeyPay 5 running are on this Website. Unless your existing PC has completely died, you do have the advantage of having both machines available together, and can move your applications one at a time at your leisure. This is especially easier if your data is external or networked and thus common to both.

Now a tip for when installing or running Windows 10 on a new PC for the first time: Microsoft will request you login with, or create a Microsoft account. Among other things, this gives you access to Microsoft One Drive and there are some advantages to doing that. However, the ability to create a local account and give a personal name your PC, such as used in Windows 7, is not available unless you connect to a domain or company server. File sharing with other PC's, a server, or NAS use local accounts. If you don't want to use a Microsoft login, or need a local account, then do not connect your PC to any network, WiFi or cat5 cable for the very first start-up of Windows 10. For a brand new PC that means when turning it on, or for a fresh install when it first reboots after completing the installation copy. It will then give-up requesting a Microsoft Account and offer to create a local one instead. And you get to name your machine to your liking rather than some random one. Once working, shutdown and then allow it to connect to the internet. You will still be able to login to your Microsoft Account if you wish but also retain the local account.

One disadvantage of a software upgrade from 7 is that Windows 10 will likely be slower on older hardware where CPU issues such as Spectre cannot be worked around. These affect performance enhancing features which must now be disabled. This will depend on what CPU your current PC actually has fitted.

Not Possible  

Microsoft has deliberately excluded support on Windows 7 for newer hardware such as USB 3.1. Thus downgrading a newer PC from Windows 10 computer to Windows 7 won't work without major geek effort or using virtualization such as Hyper-V.  Over the last 10 years, computer hardware has changed significantly, probably in part due to the Meltdown and Spectre issues with Intel CPU's.  

Problems with Windows 10

These relate to Microsoft's failed attempt to put Windows on phones and tablets that had eventually became powerful enough with sufficient memory. This resulted in Windows 8 which targeted touch screens on the desktop, had no menu system, sparsely populated windows that required much scrolling and it came with no instructions. It really was a complete failure and resulted in a hurried release of Windows 8.1 to pacify users.  Windows 10 inherited the mess and became a mishmash of both 7 and 8. What happened to Windows 9?  Actually Windows 8 (ate) 9 - computer joke!

Microsoft also decided to offer Windows as a Service, meaning they would regularly upgrade its features as well as provide security patches instead of a new release every few years. Unfortunately the schedule set was 6 monthly which none of their business users wanted, and for a time couldn't even prevent them. A new system of upgrading was implemented and found to be less than reliable, with many users being left with unstable or dead computers, some of which even M.S was unable to fix and after court action had to replace.

The feature upgrade every six months has become a major on-going issue. Many users got no warning, expecting a quick security update, only to discover it took hours to finish, then fail, and to spend another hour reverting itself. And the next day to try and repeat the same exercise. Naturally this is a huge hit to productivity, which after being observed by corporate clients decided to stay with Windows 7, some forever...
Its also well known in programming circles that all new code has bugs and the more often things are changed, even by fixing a bug, the potential of finding more of them also increases. (Jan 14 2020 NSA announces major bug in Windows 10. Earlier versions (Win 7) not affected.)

Even today, Windows 10 version updates are still breaking things. Mainly because Microsoft decided to disband virtually its entire team of testing employees and to rely on the community and from those who joined a group called insiders.  This group, which I myself joined, got advance upgrades and the ability to report issues back to Microsoft. However, Microsoft mostly ignored these and at times released public upgrades with serious bugs that insiders had previously reported and after major issues had to withdraw it again.

In fact Windows 10 now has multiple versions based on the year and month of release, starting from 1507, 1511, through to 1803, 1809, 1903 and 1909, all of which behave and are patched differently, which we think creates more issues for business than sticking with Version 7 for now. 

Under pressure from corporate businesses, the enterprise and later professional versions were given the option to defer feature updates for a time, that has been extended more than once. Business users rarely require feature updates and just want a stable platform to maintain their day-to-day business without issues. For this reason we will continue using 7 for development and daily use until Windows 10 is proven to be sufficiently stable and reliable to our satisfaction. Our software will be regularly checked to ensure that it works correctly on Windows 10.

In the past, traditionally MS provided new Windows versions roughly every five years and mostly larger businesses skipped every second release or just planned to replace their hardware when it became unreliable, or to just lease the hardware.

In fact, ex-lease computers, some only 18 months old, can make excellent buying for individuals or non-profits. Personal experience with these machines have some still going after 10 years with little maintenance - a yearly vacuum to remove dust that causes overheating, replace the internal 3v button cell and the occasional new hard drive.